Chapter 122: The Female Version of Amon is Quite Cute Too
"Y-yes, I suppose so," Alice replied somewhat bewilderedly.
Amon gazed at her with an expression Alice couldn't quite describe.
After a moment of silence, Alice said sincerely, "Only a great being like yourself could make such a unique expression. For insignificant mortals like us, seeing it even once in our lifetime is an immense honor!"
"You're quite the smooth talker," Amon chuckled, "But could you not curse me in your mind while praising me out loud?"
Alice's eyes flickered briefly before she defended herself: "...I call it honesty."
Amon's gaze fell on Alice's right hand, which was gripping a knife and forcefully cutting into a steak.
Noticing Amon's stare, Alice paused momentarily before changing the subject: "So, do I still need to go eat ice cream later?"
"You don't have to go," Amon replied nonchalantly.
"Really?" Alice sighed in relief.
"It's not like I'll be the one dying," Amon added.
Alice opened her mouth, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu about this conversation.
After staring at Amon for a few seconds, Alice lowered her head without another word and began eating faster.
Watching Alice eat with her head down, Amon chuckled softly: "Even if you made the chandelier on the ceiling suddenly explode, it wouldn't do any good."
Alice stopped eating and looked up, asking seriously: "Then how could I truly harm you? Or escape from your grasp?"
"Are you asking me how to deal with myself?" Amon countered.
Alice responded matter-of-factly: "Who would know better how to deal with you than yourself, right?"
Amon smiled enigmatically: "Even if I told you... would you dare to believe me?"
"So you don't dare to say it?" Alice asked, feigning surprise.
"Tsk," Amon's aura gradually became more dangerous, "Are you so certain I won't kill you?"
"If you could kill me, I should thank you," Alice replied bluntly.
Amon looked at Alice without speaking.
"Even as prey, I belong to Fate," Alice continued with a smile, "What, are you planning to steal me from Fate's hands?"
This blatant provocation made Amon laugh. He looked at Alice and sighed: "Honestly, you'd make an excellent 'Provocateur'."
"No, I don't think I'm suited for it at all," Alice shook her head, "Let's make a bet, Lord Time Angel?"
"Even if I could find the 'Provocateur' potion, I wouldn't be able to make you drink it?" Amon said skeptically.
Alice shrugged with an "if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do" attitude as she finished the rest of her dinner.
As Alice was walking out of the restaurant, Amon finally asked: "I'm quite curious, how exactly was my ice cream inferior to the previous shop owner's?"
Alice hesitated before answering: "Perhaps because the previous owner didn't threaten me to eat his ice cream?"
"Did I threaten you?" Amon asked, puzzled.
Alice stopped walking and looked at the oblivious Amon, replying sincerely: "Your very existence is a threat to me."
"So that's how you discovered me," Amon nodded thoughtfully, "But was the ice cream really not as good as before?"
As Alice continued walking, she said: "I don't know... When eating ice cream you made, I wasn't in the mood to pay attention to the taste..."
Amon pondered this seriously.
As Alice neared the ice cream stand's location, Amon suddenly said: "You should go back."
"...Because it's not you who'll die?" Alice hesitantly added.
"Very clever," Amon praised insincerely.
Alice was silent for a moment before tentatively asking: "So, your avatars really will fight each other?"
Amon looked at Alice suspiciously and asked: "So, you really aren't afraid of death at all?"
"From what I remember, I've already died twice..." Alice reflexively thought to herself, then remembered Amon could hear her thoughts.
She stiffly looked at Amon.
"Quick reaction," Amon praised with a smile.
He did it on purpose! Alice suddenly realized the true meaning behind the title "God of Deception and Mischief."
Deliberately giving her the impression he wouldn't kill her, deliberately making her think he couldn't do anything to her, deliberately displaying an attitude of being provoked yet helpless after her harmless taunts...
He was intentionally guiding her to lower her guard!
But what was his purpose... Surely it couldn't just be that a cat with extended claws was more fun to play with?
"A very clever metaphor," Amon commented.
Alice's train of thought halted at this abrupt remark. She realized that all her current thoughts were transparent to Amon, and she had no way to effectively struggle in this situation.
"Good point," Amon commented again, "Although your thoughts are quite interesting, it does get boring like this all the time."
"?" Alice glared at Amon and began recalling math exam papers she remembered.
The enhancement of memory due to increased spirituality was significant. Whether Alice could actually solve those past exam papers or not, she certainly remembered quite a few of them.
This world wasn't without mathematics, and as a "Thief" who had lived for many years, Amon had certainly stolen mathematical knowledge before.
Although he didn't recognize the text, the mathematical symbols were easy enough to understand after looking at them for a while. He... damn it, how did he actually start solving them?
"...Enough," Amon said through gritted teeth.
Alice obediently stopped recalling. Whether Amon's gritted teeth were genuine or an act, Alice understood she should stop while she was ahead.
But Fate didn't seem to want her to do so.
From top to bottom, there was a white pointed soft hat, wavy black hair reaching the waist, with stray locks dancing in the wind, and messy bangs covering the forehead.
The girl in the image reached out to hold a monocle over her right eye, revealing a wink expression common to anime girls.
She wore a white princess dress with puffy sleeves and ruffles, cinched at the waist, with the skirt length reaching only to her thighs.
The drawing didn't show the lower legs or feet, and perhaps to differentiate, Amon's black clothes were changed to white, but...
What on earth was this thing?!
However, the female version of Amon did look quite cute...